Moisture and pressure pad for horsesj feet



' S (No Model.)

A. GOUI'LLIAYRD. MOISTURE AND PRESSURE PAD FOR HORSES FEET.

No. 288,211. Patented Nov. 13, 1883.

TUnirnn Stains i PATENT rrien.

LEANDER- A. oo'uILLIAnn, 0F Bosron, MASSACHUSETTS.

MOlSTURE AND PRESSUREPAD FOR HORSES FEET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No; 288,211, dated November 13, 1883.

Application filed May 28,1883, (No model.)

To (2.5:? whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Lnnnnnn A. OoUIL- Linen, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Moisture and Pressure Pads for Horses Feet; andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification; that according to my knowledge and belief the same has not been in public use in the United States for more than two years prior to this application.

The object of my invention is to provide a pad for the feet of horses which can be easily adjusted to the feet and detached, and which shall serve, first, to keep the foot moist while the horse is standing in a dry stable; and, sec- 0nd, to furnish a soft cushion for the sole of the foot to rest upon when shod, which cushion'shallpress the frog up into the hoof, thereby expanding the same.

The frog of the foot, which is an elastic substance, affords a natural pad. Its function is to expand the shell or horny part of the hoof and keep it in proper shape by preventing its contraction, thereby enabling the blood to circulate freely, and so keep the foot in a healthy condition. When the horse is running unshod in the pasture, the moisture from the ground keeps the frog soft, flexible, and expanded, and the weight of the bodyresting upon this cushion-like formation presses it up into the hoof, as required. By placing a shoe upon the hoof it is raised from the ground, and the weight of the body being removed the pressure upon the frog is lost, and by keep.

ing the horse on the dry floor of a stable the sults in a drying up and contraction of the frog and a consequent contraction of the lateral walls of the hoof, often producing laineness and other diseases of the foot.

My invention is intended to obviate the pernicious consequences to the feet of shoein g and stabling horses.

Figure 1 is an elevation of the pad adjusted to the foot of a horse. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan of the pad laid into the sole of the foot, and

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of the from the toe of the foot to the heel on the bottom of the pad, as seen in Fig. 2. The metallic band is slightly bent upward at the toe, with a short tongue, F, projecting be yond the pad, to be inserted between the toe of the shoe B and the hoof A on the inside, in order to hold the front of the pad in place. The pad and metallic band are fastened together at their centers by arivet, 6, around which, as an axis, the band may be made to slightly turn. The object of this arrange ment is that, in case of a one-sided or otherwise irregularly-shaped hoof, the band can be so placed relative to the pad as to bind the latter to the foot in the strongest possible manner. Fastened to this band at the heel, by means of a short rivet, 2 is aleather strap, split into two parts close up to where it is fastened to the metallic band. The parts of this strap 0 G extend around the opposite sides of the foot, and are firmly buckled together in front of the hoof A.

The pad is adjusted to thefoot by lifting it from the floor, placing the tongue F of the metallic band'between the shoe and the hoof at the toe on the inner side, jamming the pad D, first thoroughly saturated with water or other liquid,into the sole of the foot, and tightly buckling the leather straps C 0 around the top of the hoof A. 7

The pad is made of sufficient thickness to extend, when the weight of the body is removed, below the shoe, as seen in Fig. 1; otherwise the weight would rest upon the shoe and the desired pressure be lost.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

The combination of the pad D and the band E, fastened together by the single rivet 0, both band and pad bein held in position when applied by the tonglfe F and the straps V LEANDER OOUILLIARD' 5 G O, in the manner and forthe purposes de- XVitnesses:

DAVID F. CRANE, ALBERT W. DANIELS.

my own I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

scribed.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as l 

